


a family

by starlightkun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Single Mother Reader, domestic shit, hee hoo johnnys just the sweetest u kno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:02:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26905573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightkun/pseuds/starlightkun
Summary: in which your daughter might finally get the family she deserves
Relationships: Suh Youngho | Johnny/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 50





	a family

A small body suddenly landing on yours stirred you awake that morning, accompanied by an overly excited voice.

“Mommy! Mommy! Wake up Mommy!” Your daughter squealed, sitting on your stomach.

Playfully grumbling, you rolled over to knock her off gently onto the other side of the bed, smothering her under the blankets and your legs. She giggled and excavated herself, now sitting on your back as she called out for you.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Yujin continued saying brightly.

Finally, you acknowledged her, voice muffled as your face was pressed against your pillow. “Yes, little one?”

She still understood you, asking, “Can we go out to breakfast today?”

“What time is it?”

There was a pause as she shifted off your back to be able to look at your bedside clock.

“7:13.”

“Why did you wake me up so early on a Saturday, Yujin?”

“I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep.”

Sitting yourself up in your bed, you brushed your hair away from your face and gave her a tired smile. “Like mother, like daughter. Start getting ready, I’ll be out in a couple of minutes.”

“Yay!” She cheered, wrapping her arms around your neck to peck your cheek before practically leaping off your bed and darting out the door.

Reaching to unplug your phone, you saw that there was a new message from last night, the contact name bringing a smile to your face.

[johnny: you’re probably already fast asleep, but i’m about to go to bed so goodnight. i’ll see you tomorrow, don’t forget to wear something pretty ;) reservations at 6:30]

You’d normally shake your head at your boyfriend’s greasiness, but instead you cursed yourself. You had completely forgotten about your date with Johnny that night and thus didn’t have a babysitter. Dialing up the number of your normal babysitter, you started getting yourself ready for breakfast. The line buzzed a couple times before she picked up.

“Oh, hello Ms. Y/L/N, how are you?” The young woman asked once she had picked up.

“I’m alright. You always seem to forget that you’re two years older than me, Haseul-ssi.” You reminded her with a silent sigh.

“Right, I apologize. I’m not quite used to having clients younger than me.”

Her comment wasn’t meant to carry much weight, she was just commenting rather objectively that you were fairly young to be a mother, much less the mother of a four year old. You weren’t necessarily ashamed of it, it just wasn’t a fact you liked to be reminded of. Especially being a single mother at that, a single mother who didn’t truly know the father of her daughter. You’d gotten pregnant at a very low point in your life, but Yujin was the light that had pulled you out of that darkness.

In your attempt to give her as much stability and happiness in her life as possible, you focused on getting a job and being able to provide the bare necessities for her. Now that you had a stable career, an apartment you could truly call home, and she was to be enrolled in school next year, you felt comfortable dating again. But you could never introduce them to Yujin unless you were absolutely sure they’d be around for a while, and hopefully forever. She needed stability, not a carousel of men that were vaguely father figures. Especially not at such a crucial stage in her life.

That was probably why you still hadn’t even mentioned the fact that you had a child to Johnny. You’d been dating for nearly eight months now, making sure to have your babysitter reserved beforehand, and planning ahead for nights you had decided you’d stay with him for the night—always at his place—in order to reserve your babysitter to sleepover with Yujin.

You knew when you started dating Johnny that he liked spontaneity, and you always felt bad having to deny his requests of spur-of-the-moment outings or suggestive behavior under the table at dinner when you knew that you only had your babysitter until 11:00.

Biting your lip, you returned to the reason you had called, “I am so sorry for the late notice, but would you be able to watch Yujin tonight from six to no later than ten-thirty?”

“Y/N,” Her tone of voice made your stomach drop. “I’m sorry but I can’t, I’m already booked for tonight.”

Trying not to vocalize your disappointment, you replied in a calm voice, “Ah, that’s alright, thank you.”

“Sorry again.”

“It’s okay, I’ll call you another time. Goodbye, Haseul-ssi.”

Hanging up, you frantically went to call your backup for your babysitter, who didn’t pick up. As you got ready, you texted her then called your backup for your backup. Soon you had exhausted all your options, everyone was either busy or didn’t pick up. Which made sense, they probably wouldn’t be awake yet.

“Mommy!” Yujin called out again for you before her small head peeked into your bedroom.

Your shirt was halfway on, hair was a mess, and you were so frustrated you felt about ready to throw your phone. But one look at her bright eyes melted your anger. “Yes, I’m sorry, Yujie, I’m almost ready, okay?”

“Okay!”

* * *

At 5:45 in the evening, you were sitting on your couch in your date outfit for the night, anxiously looking between your phone and your daughter as she colored in a new coloring book you’d gotten her the other day. Johnny was going to meet you in front of your apartment building in fifteen minutes, and you knew if you weren’t down there then, he’d come up looking for you. Your last hope still hadn’t texted you back, then you suddenly remembered that the family who lived across the hall from you had a teenage daughter.

“Yujie, come with me for a second.” You requested, taking your daughter’s hand in yours before speeding out your door.

After fervently ringing their doorbell, having it answered by a very confused teenager, and explaining everything to her, you now had a babysitter for Yujin.

“Alright, I’ll be back no later than 10:30, you have my number, dinner is in the fridge, make sure Yujin is at least in pajamas and in her bedroom by 9, it’s her choice as to whether or not she actually sleeps or not.” You then gave the four year old a pointed look before speaking to the older girl again. “Thank you so much for doing this last-minute, Naeun.”

“It’s not a problem, Ms. Y/L/N.” She bowed her head.

You knelt down to hug your daughter, kissing her temple. “Bye Yujie, you better be asleep by the time I come home, okay?”

“Yes, Mommy.” She smiled sweetly, and you knew that she wouldn’t be.

“Okay, have fun girls, bye!”

With that, you set off down the elevator. Throwing the door out of your building open, you saw Johnny standing there checking his phone, bouncing from one leg to another. If your heart rate wasn’t already elevated from dashing down here, it would’ve definitely rocketed up when you laid eyes on him. He was dressed nicely, a crisp button up tucked into his pants, the sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms, and he’d even slightly styled his hair.

“Hey, Johnny.” You greeted him brightly and only _a little_ out of breath.

“Ah, I was starting to get worried.” He smiled, pulling you into him for a somewhat prolonged kiss. You could feel yourself smiling against his lips, and he pulled back to just look at your face for a moment, still holding you close to him. “Hi, beautiful.”

“Hi. We should get going, right?”

“We have time.”

“Johnny, we’re not going to make out on the sidewalk right in front of my apartment building.”

“Then how about _in_ your apartment?”

God, you wanted nothing more than to be able to invite him upstairs, but you couldn’t. Elbowing him in the side, you scoffed, “You’re so greasy sometimes.”

“But you stay with me anyway.” The serious moment had faded as a lopsided grin found its way onto his features and he let go of you.

“Still don’t know why.” You teased, taking his hand in yours to start walking down the street.

* * *

At the restaurant, it took you only a few minutes to be seated, you were barely on time for your reservation. After the waiter had given you your drinks and taken your appetizer orders, your boyfriend resumed the conversation.

“So why _were_ you late today, Y/N? You’re usually waiting for me not the other way around.”

Your throat seized for a moment. Now would be the perfect time to tell Johnny about your daughter. It wasn’t that you were trying to hide it from him, there had never been an opportune moment to tell him. But here it was, and you couldn’t find your words, debating about whether or not you could. Johnny was a year older than you, still making him fairly young and he probably hadn’t even thought about children yet. Would he really want to date someone with a child?

Avoiding it would only make it worse when he did find out, and you didn’t want it to end badly. Besides, if he doesn’t want to date you because of Yujin, then he just wasn’t right for you.

After taking a sip of your water to refresh your parched throat, you answered, “I had some difficulty, uh, finding a babysitter for my daughter.”

To Johnny’s credit, he didn’t do a spit-take. His eyes widened as he gulped down the sip he had just taken. He didn’t seem disgusted with you, or angry, more just surprised.

“You have a daughter?”

“Yes, her name is Yujin.”

“How old is she?” He wasn’t running away, he was calmly collecting data, trying to understand the situation. Which you really appreciated.

“She’s four.”

Johnny nodded, seeming to do some mental math in his head for a moment, “You were young when you had her.”

“Yes, I was. And before you ask, no I don’t know who the father is.”

There was another pause before he spoke again, “Do you have a picture of her?”

It was your turn to be surprised, he seemed genuinely interested in your daughter, not even asking for more uncomfortable details. And you were more than happy to get away from talking about them.

“Of course!” You pulled up the gallery on your phone, which were mostly pictures of Yujin.

And so Johnny looked and listened with earnest as you showed him pictures of Yujin, gushing on about her personality and telling the funny stories behind each picture. You’d never had someone to really tell this to before, and you just had so much love for her that you felt like you could go on for days talking about your daughter. When the appetizers came back, you looked at the time and realized you’d spent almost twenty minutes raving on about her.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” You went to put your phone away, face warming up. “I talked for so long, didn’t I?”

“Don’t apologize, I loved every minute of it.” Johnny said sincerely, giving you a reassuring smile. “I love _you._ ”

Your own relieved smile crossed your face for a moment, but you still felt nerves knotting and writhing around in your stomach, “So…?”

“So…?”

“What are you thinking right now?”

“That I have a wonderful, amazing, really freaking hot, stunning, incredible girlfriend with the cutest little kid that I’d love to meet someday.”

And you just burst out crying, muffling your relieved sobs with your hands. Johnny stood up out of his seat to crouch down beside you, rubbing your leg soothingly. “Woah, woah, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, absolutely nothing. Everything’s just— God, you’re perfect, Johnny.”

“Well I knew that.” He smirked, and you kicked him lightly with your foot. “But why are you crying?”

“I thought that you’d leave me, that you wouldn’t want to date someone with a child. I was so afraid you’d look at me differently and that we’d break up. But you don’t, and you want to meet her and everything is just _so wonderful_ right now.”

You’d stopped crying at this point, and Johnny took a napkin to wipe at your tears. He had a soft smile on his face as he did so, looking at you like you were the most incredible thing he’d ever seen. When he was done, he kissed your hand, then your lips, then your forehead as he stood up back up to return to his seat across the table.

“So that’s why we always went to my place, hm? And why you always had to be home at a certain time?” He pieced it together, and you nodded, finally taking a bite of your food.

“And why I would sometimes say yes and sometimes say no to going back to your place.” You added, “It was whenever I had already asked my babysitter to sleepover with Yujie.”

“So you’ve been scheduling when we had sex?”

You snorted, “Yeah. And it also costs me a lot more, too.”

“That’s rough.”

“Ah, it’s worth it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” A cocky smile fell onto your boyfriend’s face, and you shook your head ever-so-slightly before continuing your meal.

* * *

At the end of your meal, Johnny was now even more insistent than ever on paying all of the check knowing that you also had to pay a babysitter when you got back to your apartment. He did eventually relent on letting you tip, however.

Walking back down the streets towards your apartment, you felt content with the feeling of Johnny’s fingers entwined with yours, just talking about whatever the conversation led to.

“So when can I meet Yujin?” He asked nonchalantly, but out of the blue considering you had just been talking about a concert that was coming into town.

“Uh— good question.” You frowned, taking out your phone to look at your calendar. Thankfully it was a Saturday, and the fact that you had a normal office job meant that you got the weekends off, being able to watch Yujin while she wasn’t at daycare. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Well then you’re coming to the park with Yujin and I.”

“That sounds perfect.”

It was then that you reached the doors of your apartment building, and turned to say goodbye to your boyfriend. “Bye, Johnny.”

“Goodnight, love.” He pulled your face up to meet his for a moment. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Apartment 346. 10 am for breakfast.”

“Can’t wait.”

Johnny still hadn’t let you go, smiling down at you. You half-heartedly tried to wiggle out of his grasp, “I told Naeun I’d be no later than ten-thirty.”

“Then we’ve got four minutes.”

“Johnny.”

“Alright.” With one, two more pecks, he let you go. “Bye, love.”

“Bye, I love you.”

“I love you.”

* * *

When you’d gotten into your apartment that night, you paid Naeun, thanked her, and bid her goodnight. Sneaking into Yujin’s room, you were delighted to see that she was asleep, stirring a little bit when you went to give her a goodnight kiss. But ultimately, she stayed in dreamland, letting you get to your own bedroom quickly.

In the morning, you’d woken up before Yujin, a first in a long time. It was probably because of the apprehension already building inside you at the idea of what would happen later. You’d gone on dates before you met Johnny, but he was the first person you’d truly been in a relationship with since you’d had Yujin. And you were so incredibly nervous for her to meet him. You knew that she vaguely knew where you went whenever you left her with a babysitter, but this would be the first time she’d actually meet any boyfriend of yours. Looking at your clock, you saw that it wasn’t even seven yet, and burrowed your face into your pillow to just lay in your bed for a little while longer. You eventually pulled yourself out of bed. Maybe a nice long shower would help you relax. And maybe Yujin would stay asleep long enough for you to take a shower.

The warm water should’ve help your tense muscles, but instead the alone time only let your thoughts run wild and made you more anxious.

What if Johnny had changed his mind since last night and didn’t show up?

Or worse yet, what if he did show up but changed his mind in that moment and left you?

The worst possibly, however, was that Yujin wouldn’t like him.

If Yujin hated Johnny, you feared that your relationship with him wouldn’t last long. Not because your daughter determined who you dated, but if she didn’t like him that would make your relationship much more difficult, and eventually fall apart.

“Cool, thanks brain, I feel so much better now.” You grumbled aloud, throwing your head back to rinse the shampoo out of your hair.

The anxiety in your stomach was eating away you with more ferocity now, and maybe it would eat all of you so that you didn’t have to do this. Despite your wishes, you stepped out of the shower intact, and changed into park-appropriate clothing. Yujin liked to make you go on everything on the playground with her, and pick flowers or weeds that she thought were pretty anyway, the both of you always getting dirty within just ten minutes of arriving.

“Mommy!” Yujin suddenly appeared in your bedroom, right after you had adjusted your clothes in the mirror.

“Yujie! Good morning!” You said as she skipped over to you, looking up at you expectantly.

You leaned down, kissing her cheek then turning your head to let her kiss yours. “Good morning, Mommy!”

“How’d you sleep, little one?” You asked, guiding her out of her bedroom, one hand brushing through her hair to try to rid her of the bedhead she’d accumulated overnight.

“Good.”

“Did you have fun with Naeun last night?”

“Yep! I like Naeun unnie better than Ms. Haseul.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time then.” You looked at the clock above your stove, it was ten till nine. You should get Yujin dressed and her stuff packed before starting breakfast.

“Did you have fun last night too, Mommy?” She questioned, looking up at you with curious eyes as you shuffled her back towards her room.

“Yes, I did.” Inside her bedroom, you sat down on the side of her bed, and patted the spot beside you. “Come here, sweetpea. I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Are we getting a puppy?” She asked excitedly, clambering up next to you.

A smile tugged at the corners of your mouth as you thought of Johnny, she wasn’t exactly wrong. “No, Yujie.”

“Then what is it?”

You tried to think of how to start this conversation, you’d never addressed her lack of another parental figure, and she’d never questioned it. A small hand rested on your palm then, your daughter had sensed your distress.

“Yujie, you know how most of the other kids at daycare have a mommy and… someone else? Another parent?” You questioned.

A very thoughtful look crossed her face as she seemed to ponder this fact for a moment. “Well, my friend Jonghoon has two dads!”

“Right, my bad. But he still has two parents, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever thought about how you only have one?”

Her small brow furrowed, not understanding where you were going with this. “No. But I do just have a Mommy. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, little one, nothing’s wrong with it.” You reassured her, brushing some hair back from her face. “We’ve done great just the two of us. But, the reason why I wanted to talk to you is because someone else is coming to the park with us today.”

“Who?”

“Well, he’s who Mommy had been with when she goes out and you stay with Ms. Haseul.”

“Is he your husband?”

You burst out laughing, waving off her question, “No, I didn’t go get married without telling you, Yujie. He’s Mommy’s boyfriend, and he really wants to meet you.”

Yujin narrowed her eyes, taking another moment to think about this. She was thinking quite a lot for a four year old. Finally, she spoke again, “What’s his name?”

“Seo Johnny. He’s really nice, and loves Mommy a lot.”

“But I love you more!”

Her pout made you giggle again, bringing her into your chest for a tight hug. “Of course, and I love _you_ more.”

“Good.”

The clock on her dresser read 9:08 now, and you let her go. “You get dressed and start packing your bag, okay? I’m going to start breakfast, Johnny is coming at ten.”

She nodded dutifully, and you shuffled into the kitchen to get your ingredients together. Yujin joined you in the kitchen not much later, complaining that she couldn’t find her monkey bookbag. Stopping your stirring of the pancake batter, you went to look with her, eventually finding it fallen behind the couch.

When you got back into the kitchen, you saw that you had just under twenty minutes until Johnny would be here. And he liked to be early, meaning you had closer to ten or fifteen minutes. Great.

A knock came right as you had plated the last pancake. Turning the stove off and throwing the batter bowl in the sink, you rushed to open the door. Standing outside your door was the tall figure of your boyfriend, dressed much more casually than yesterday, but still making your heart race.

Johnny had an amused smile on his face as he took in your disheveled appearance for a moment. “You have flour on your face.”

“Wonderful.” You wiped your face before pulling him inside and closing the door behind him.

“Morning.” He leaned down to kiss you briefly.

“Morning.” You murmured into the kiss, then led him further into your apartment that had toys and books and other miscellaneous items strewn around. “Welcome to my mess of a house. Yujin and I usually clean on Sundays, so you came at the worst time if you wanted to be able to see the floor or a countertop.”

“It’s fine, I’m more interested in seeing my girlfriend.”

“Smooth.” Commenting on that, you craned your neck to look into other rooms for your daughter. She had been at the kitchen table when the doorbell rang but now she was nowhere to be seen. “Ah, wait here. Yujin’s probably still getting her stuff together.”

“Okay.” Johnny nodded, wringing his hands. He looked almost as nervous as you, and you found it amusing that your confident hotshot boyfriend was rendered to an anxious mess at the thought of meeting a four year old.

Treading towards Yujin’s room, you frowned when you saw that the door was closed. “Yujie? Are you in here?”

“Yes, Mommy.” Her reply came through the door.

“May I come in?”

“Yeah.”

She was sitting in the corner of her room, sullenly pushing a car back and forth in front of her. “Hey, whatcha doing in here, little one? We’ve got some breakfast to eat.”

“Do I have to call him Daddy?”

“What? No, of course not.” You reassured her, leaning against the doorframe. “You can call him whatever you feel comfortable with, okay?”

“Okay.” With a sigh, she stood up, taking your hand in hers to walk back out to the kitchen.

Johnny had sat down in your absence, but immediately shot to his feet when you reentered, accompanied by your daughter. He awkwardly took a couple steps forwards, meeting you two in the middle.

“Yujin, meet Mommy’s boyfriend, Seo Johnny. Johnny, this is my daughter, Y/L/N Yujin.”

She didn’t let go of your hand as she watched Johnny bow to her, and thankfully did the same back to him. “Hi.”

“Ah, it’s nice to meet you, Yujin. You can call me Johnny.” He offered her a smile, and your daughter continued looking up at him, emotionless.

There was another moment of silence, Yujin just observing your nervous boyfriend as you looked between the two of them. She spoke up again, this time talking to you. “I don’t like him.”

You were caught off-guard, stomach dropping. Kneeling down beside her, you looked at her with your head tilted. “Why’s that, Yujie?”

“He’s really tall, he’s gonna step on me and squash me like a bug!” She even mashed her palms together to demonstrate the squishing she anticipated happening.

Laughter tumbled out of you, partially from relief that it wasn’t something serious, and partially from the pure hilarity of her reason. Out of everything she could’ve been thinking about, she had thought about him accidentally crushing her underfoot. Children’s minds were truly incredible.

“No, he wouldn’t do that.” You promised her, patting her back reassuringly before looking up at the man that had turned red and looked ready to puke through the whole thing. “Right, Johnny?”

He fervently went to agree, “Right. I’m very careful of where I walk. I don’t even step on real bugs, and they’re a lot smaller than you.”

“Even the really really tiny ones?” She questioned, holding her pointer and thumb just millimeters away from each other.

“And the really really _really_ tiny ones.” Johnny confirmed, causing your daughter’s eyes to widen and her jaw to drop in awe.

“Woah.”

Having gotten over that hump, you declared, “Let’s eat breakfast now, hm?”

* * *

After breakfast, you sent Yujin to finish getting her things together as you washed the dishes and pans, handing them to Johnny to dry them.

“She’s got your nose.” Johnny commented, and you looked at him curiously.

“Strange detail to comment on.” You said, handing him a plate. “But I suppose I’ll thank you.”

“Yeah, it’s cute. She’s a real cutie, just like her mother.”

“Oh I’m cute now? Last night I believe you had called me ‘really freaking hot.’”

“Well you are, but you’re still a cutie.” He grinned, bumping his hip with yours as both pairs of your hands were occupied.

You bumped him back, rinsing crumbs off Yujin’s plate. “You’re pretty cute yourself.”

“Why thank you.”

Just as Johnny had dried the last dish, you could hear the sounds of small feet walking into the kitchen from behind you.

“Hey, Yujie! You ready to go?” You asked as you turned around, seeing that she already had her backpack on as well as a comprehensive outfit too.

“I need shoes.” She deadpanned, pointing to her bare feet.

“Grab your socks and we’ll get your sneakers on by the door.”

Nodding, she retreated back into her room and you rounded on Johnny. “I still need to pack my own stuff. Would you mind helping Yujin with her shoes while I do that? I’ll be like two minutes, max.”

Johnny’s eyes widened, but he agreed nonetheless. “Uh, yeah, sure. Which ones are they?”

“The small ones.”

“Right, right.”

“Thanks.” You squeezed his forearm reassuringly before taking leave of the kitchen.

Grabbing a bag, you threw in an extra pair of shoes, change of clothes for yourself, and bandaids. Back in the kitchen, neither Johnny nor Yujin were around as you grabbed your previously packed lunch and added it to your bag. The last step was folding a large blanket and stuffing it in too. Slinging the filled bag over your shoulder, you made your way to the front door where the rack of shoes were.

Johnny and Yujin were standing there, the former looking much more awkward than the latter. If anything Yujin just seemed impatient, lighting up when she saw you. “Mommy! Let’s go!”

She latched onto your hand, practically dragging you out the front door. Locking it behind you, the three of you then made your way into the elevator, where Yujin bounced in place excitedly.

Walking on the sidewalk, you could tell that Johnny wasn’t quite sure of what to do, with Yujin still tugging insistently on your hand. He was hesitantly trailing behind the two of you, and you slowed your daughter down to offer your free hand out to your boyfriend. He was physically relieved as he laced his fingers through yours, squeezing in beside you on the sidewalk. Yujin blabbered on about something, and you’d occasionally give your own input to her imaginary problems. Johnny even said something one time that made her giggle.

The three of you finally arrived at the park, where Yujin promptly let go of your hand to shimmy her backpack off. Knowing that she was going to want to make a beeline for the jungle gym with you, you took the bag from her. “Here, baby, I’ll hold this while you and Johnny go to the playground, okay?”

“Okay!” She agreed, looking at Johnny expectantly.

“Ah, let’s go.” He smiled, gesturing for her to lead the way.

You chose a spot a good distance from the jungle gym to set up the large blanket, but close enough that your boyfriend and your daughter were still clearly in view. Johnny was definitely much too tall for the jungle gym, but your daughter seemed determined for him to do everything with her, from climbing the rock wall that was shorter than him, to attempting to squeeze down the slides with her. Yujin was ecstatic that she finally had someone who could aptly help her with the monkey bars. As she moved her hands from bar to bar, Johnny held her up by the waist, making sure she completed it. Even if he had to be ducking ever so slightly under it the whole time.

Sitting yourself on the blanket, you looked away from the playground for a moment to check your phone, making sure that you didn’t have any messages from work.

“Mommy!” There was suddenly a blood-curdling shriek, and your motherly instincts launched you to your feet so fast you were dizzy. But that didn’t matter, your eyes hungrily scanned for your daughter, presumably the source of the screech.

“Mommy!” It came again, this time accompanied by your daughter suddenly bursting into view, a huge grin on her face as she hid behind you, giggling.

Johnny came running up, out of breath and grinning, “Well that’s not fair! You can’t use your mom as a shield.”

A relieved sigh left your mouth when you realized that it was a screech of delight, they were only playing. “You two scared me half to death, you know that?”

“Sorry, love.” Your boyfriend said between pants, but the little girl only giggled more from behind your legs.

In one quick motion, you twisted around and picked up Yujin. As she squealed, you lifted up her shirt to expose her stomach, blowing raspberries to make her screech again as she tried to wriggle out of her grasp. “Mommy! No!”

“You thought you were safe behind me?” You teased, tickling her neck to make her giggle.

“Mommy!” She pleaded again, and you finally relented, putting her back on the ground.

“There you go, keep playing.”

“Will you come to the swings with us, Mommy?”

“Sure, let’s go, Yujie.” You let Yujin lead the way, skipping in front of you as you went to grab Johnny’s hand again.

“I don’t think she hates me anymore.” He commented confidently, and you nodded.

“Yeah, she’s having a lot of fun with you.”

“Johnny!” Yujin called out from behind a swing. “Will you push me please?”

His eyebrows shot up as he seemed surprised that she had requested him.

“Oh! That’s you.” You nudged him forward with a smile.

“Yes, Yujin!” He replied before releasing your hand and jogging over towards her.

When Yujin had gotten tired, and went up to you complaining that she was hungry, you three went back to the large blanket you had laid out earlier. Opening your bag, you let everyone choose what they wanted for lunch. And as you sat there with Johnny and Yujin, watching them eat and have some kind of weird conversation that you could only have with a four year old, you realized just how content you were. It felt like a family, almost, the three of you.

“You’ll have to ask your mother about that.” Johnny told Yujin, and you looked at the two of them with an eyebrow raised.

“Ask me what?”

“Can Johnny sleep over tonight, Mommy? Please please please?”

“Oh, I don’t know, sweetpea. Mommy has work tomorrow, and you have day care.” You informed her apologetically, heart breaking a little as you watched the hopeful smile fall from her face. “Another day, okay? I promise he’ll sleep over another time.”

“Okay.” She replied sullenly.

“Don’t pout, you still have a bunch of time with him today.” Reaching over, you poked her cheek until she smiled, squirming away from your hand.

Yujin eventually wore herself out, a yawn coming from her mouth only an hour later. “Ready for a nap, sweetpea?” You guessed, folding up the blanket as Johnny held the bag open for you to stuff it in.

“No.” She grumbled, but was clearly having a difficult time keeping her eyes open.

“Alright, well Mommy’s tired, so let’s start heading home.”

And so the three of you began the trek back to your apartment. It started with Johnny willingly carrying both bags, but soon Yujin was tugging on his sleeve, bottom lip sticking out as she asked to be carried. Despite you saying that she had her own two legs that worked perfectly fine, Johnny still knelt down to let her sleepily clamber onto his shoulders.

“Now she’s never going to let you say no to carrying her, you realize that right?” You informed him, carrying the bags yourself now.

Johnny shrugged to the best of his ability with Yuijn now slumped against his head nearly asleep, “I don’t mind, it’s not like she’s too terribly heavy.”

“She may be light now, but she’s going to get heavier.”

There was a fond smile on Johnny’s face when you said that, as if he was looking forward to it. “Well then I guess I’ll have to start hitting the gym when that happens.”

Chewing on your lip, you tried to conceal your hopeful smile at his words. He made it sound as if he was in this for the long run, as if he’d be there as she grew up. At your apartment building, you helped Yujin get down, there would be no way she’d fit through the doors still atop Johnny. She shuffled into the apartment, immediately taking her shoes off and wordlessly putting herself down for her nap.

“You really wore her out today, Johnny.” You commented approvingly, setting the bags down on your kitchen counter.

“And myself.” He laughed, stretching tiredly. “Can I take a nap too?”

“Go ahead.” Gesturing to the living room, you then went to start unpacking.

A pair of arms wrapped around your waist, head lolling against yours before light kisses were pressed to your neck. “I meant, with you.”

Giggling, you elbowed him away, “I’ll meet you on the couch, okay? Give me two minutes.”

“Alright.” With another peck, Johnny let you go and you listened to his footsteps as he retreated into the living room.

Putting away perishables, you decided to deal with the rest later. In your living room, Johnny had completely taken over your small couch, limbs barely fitting. You stood in front of the couch, trying to think of how exactly you’d fit on there too. His eyes flicked open, a sleepy smirk crossing his face as he patted his chest. Realizing that he expected you to just lay on top of him, you shook your head affectionately.

“Scoot over at least a little bit, you giant baby.” You scoffed, and he obliged, pressing himself further into the back of the couch.

You managed to lay yourself down beside him, scooting closer to him desperately. “I’m gonna fall off!”

His arm came to wrap around you, pulling you even closer to him until you were more than half on top of him. The other arm snaked around your waist, holding you tight. “No you won’t.”

Nuzzling your head into the crook of his neck, you let out a sigh of mixed emotions. Content, relief, anxiety. Nerves were still worming themselves around uncomfortably inside of you.

“You’re overthinking something again, love.” Johnny suddenly spoke again, fingers gently rubbing circles on your shoulderblade.

“Yeah, I am.” You admitted, tapping out an anxious rhythm on his chest.

“Talk to me.”

“You, and me, and Yujin…”

“—Had a great day at the park today.”

“No, it's— it’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m afraid still, that you haven’t thought this through, that you’ll wake up one day and realize that you didn’t want to commit to a kid.” Your own chest shook as you spoke, and you were so glad that you didn’t have to look Johnny in the face, then you’d definitely start crying. “That you’ll realize that you’re still so young, and that me and Yujin aren’t what you signed up for and you’ll leave us. I don’t want her heart to break so young.”

“Y/N,” He took a moment to formulate his words, pressing a long kiss to your forehead as he did. His voice was a little shaky, but determined nonetheless, “I love you, a whole lot. I’d never ever leave you because of something like this. Did I sign up for a kid when I started dating you? Not really. But once I’d fallen in love with you, I knew I’d signed up for anything, even a kid.”

You were still doubtful of if he knew exactly what he was agreeing to. “You’re going to have to pretty much be like her father, you realize that?”

“That’s really scary,” Johnny confessed through nervous laughter, bringing his hand from your back to lace his fingers with yours. “But I really do want to.”

“You’ll be requested for sleepovers and playdates and birthday parties.”

“Awesome.”

“You’ll be dealing with meltdowns and tantrums and bad dreams.”

“On it.”

“You’ll have to babysit sometimes.”

“Fun.”

“I want Yuta and Ten nowhere near my child.” You referenced his friends that you’d met several times, they seemed to be at Johnny’s place more than their own.

“I don’t know them.”

“Good.”

Johnny shifted out from under you so you could be face-to-face. “Did I pass?”

“Yes.” You pecked his lips. “With flying colors.”

“Thank God.” He grinned, leaning forward for a much longer kiss, mouth pressed against yours firmly.

Your heart soared as you kissed him back, practically giddy at the thought of a future with him and Yujin.

* * *

“Mommy!” A voice called out for you, disturbing you from the peaceful slumber you were in. Shifting Johnny’s arm off of you, you sat up to rub the sleep out of your eyes.

Yujin was standing at the end of your bed, bright eyes watching you with interest. Even as a seven year old, she still maintained that same curiosity from when she was even littler. Looking over, you saw that your fiancee was still asleep, now clutching the covers to his chest instead of you.

Pressing a finger to your lips, you slowly removed yourself from the sheets ushering Yujin out of your bedroom. She sat at the kitchen table, lacing her hands together on top of the table, almost like a businessman. You raised an eyebrow as you sat beside her, watching as she nervously blew a piece of hair out of her face, foot quietly tapping against the kitchen tile.

“What do you need, sweetpea?” You asked.

Yujin’s previous confidence was gone as she started fidgeting with the ends of her braided pigtails, mumbling something you couldn’t quite hear.

“You’ve got to speak up so I can hear you, Yujie.”

“Can I call him Daddy?” She blurted out, and your eyebrows shot up as a knowing smile came to your lips.

“Why don’t you ask him?” You stood up, offering your hand out to her.

The two of you crept back into your bedroom, sitting in the empty space beside the sleeping form of Johnny. You gently shook his shoulder, “Johnny, wake up. Johnny.”

He opened one eye, a tired grin on his face as he looked between you two. “Ah, my two favorite girls. Good morning, my loves.”

“Yujin has something to ask you.” You announced, rubbing your daughter’s back.

At this, Johnny sat up, attentively looking at Yujin. “What’s up, buttercup?”

She tugged at the ends of her braids again as she spoke, “Can I call you Daddy?”

Your fiancee’s eyes shot open, he was definitely fully awake now. He was absolutely beaming as he looked to your daughter with amazement. “Of course you can, Yujin. I’d be honored.”

Yujin launched herself at Johnny, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He managed to not topple over, shaking her playfully as laughter spilled from both their mouths. You looked on with a fond smile of your own, knowing that your daughter had a mom and dad for the first time in her life, and that the three of you couldn’t have been happier. A happy family, that’s what you had now. You, Yujin, and Johnny.


End file.
